It’s been awhile since my opening installment of the Panslavian Black Forests, and much has been going on in the (Slavic) metal world. Bands of all types have been issuing albums weekly, and it just seems that our metal genre is growing ever so popular.
In the constant quest for quality music and acts to watch out for, you often have to pick through the garbage and recycle relentlessly, even though it may sometimes truly hurt your eyes and the smell can become so unbearable. Well, dearest readers of Metal Review, I am getting my hands dirty so that you won’t have to, and hell, if I were any richer, I’d even throw in a manicure for y’all.
Although the winner of Total Hilariousness in this issue of the Black Forests is without question the Russian Infornal Fuck (who even caught me by surprise), that is not the Russian band I am worried about. Nope, the Russians that I most worry are corrupting young minds are the folk giants Arkona, who have just released a new EP called Stenka na Stenku. Now, their new video comes in as a close second in the hilarity contest, so I urge you to take a look-see.
I sure as hell hope this video was intended to be funny, otherwise I’ll have to learn Russian just to figure out what the fuck is going on in there. Seriously, Napalm Records, I have tried to understand what you and hordes of youngsters hear in this band and I have failed every time. Could be that I’m just not the Korpiklaani-Arkona-Finntroll kinda girl? Yep, I’ll bet on that and once again, I’ll heartily pass on the chick in wolf’s clothing screaming atop a cliff, because, hey, if I want metal at high altitudes, I’ll always have Blashyrkh.
Amusement aside, there is a serious tale I have to tell, one that many a music fan will surely understand and relate to – one of bands declaring break-ups and of notable musicians leaving their fellow bandmates. Sometimes, the reasons for bands disbanding or people leaving are ugly and very public, and sometimes it just happens quietly, with anyone hardly noticing it.
In the Negura Bunget case, I took it pretty hard and never really recovered (yes, I’m a total sissy like that), while in the case of Kroda, I ignored the hell out of it until I could ignore it no longer, because the Viterzgir-less Kroda issued a new album called Schwarzpfad…. And Viterzgir-less it is. You can literally hear half of everything on this album is missing: it’s good, but it’s not outstanding like the mighty Fimbulvinter, crushing everything in its path every fucking time it touched the CD player; it has elements familiar and unique to Kroda’s voice, but the elements seem shallow and incomplete; it has the melody of the Ukrainian forests but it lacks the mountain it was formerly carved out of. And so disappointment hits again while I bury yet another band, one that I felt produced some of the finest Slavic pagan metal of the decade. For this reason, I ask you kindly to indulge me and have a listen to the wonderful, chilling sounds of Fimbulvinter.
Moving along to more hopeful events, here are the bands that issued albums recently that I thought were worthy of our attention:
DOOR INTO EMPTINESS – VADA
I will not sing praises to this band, because I believe they have some work to do yet on their musical expression. However, there are two things that outweighed that and made me post ‘em here: First and foremost, I hear serious goddamn potential in this outfit. They build a decent atmosphere; all the elements of a cold, emotionless atmospheric black metal are in place, complete with the intro and sound effects, but it just needs a bit more polishing to stand out amongst a sea of other bands with a similar act.
Secondly, this was my first encounter with a band from Belarus, and that fact alone made my heart skip a beat with excitement.
Last but not least, I just love the cover-art with the mysterious pig in the mist. I wonder if Stephen King would have a thing or two to say about that.
DEKADENT – VENERA: TRIAL & TRIBULATION
Yet again a band whose country of origin was one of the deciding factors on whether to post it or not: Slovenia – the land of Metal Camp and gorgeous Alps, yet also the land of the awful, yet commercially successful Siddharta. I have to admit I’m not overly familiar with the Slovenian metal scene, but this act, although forever marked with absolutely ridiculous promotional photos, seem like they know what they’re doing, and they possess the quality to match it. Even though they’re a bit too fancy and polished for my tastes (I love me some dirty sounds), they do know how to produce a good, catchy melody, while the thing that attracted me most was that the melody in question had an ever-present melancholic feel to it. I’m sure many listeners will happily give Dekadent’s breed of melodic black metal a chance, so I say give these young dudes a listen.
INNER MISSING – ESCAPISM
Alas, since we gave Russians the most space in the Panslavian Forests this time, it’s only fitting we end this installment with a Rusky band:
Inner Missing is a young band, formed in 2008, and Escapism is their second full-length. If I had to sum up the music in four words, they would be: My Dying Bride worship. Is that a bad thing? Well, let’s put it this way: it’s Bride worship at its finest, and with their sense of atmosphere, melody and weepy passages without the fake pathetic air, but with true belief in the genre they chose, I enjoy the hell out of the music these guys create. Needless to say, you have to love My Dying Bride and the whole gothic doom story that goes with it, but even if you don’t you just might find that these Russians touch the ol’ ticker on a grey doomy day. I know they did it to yours truly.
And with these black sounds, I leave you to explore the Panslavian Forests…
